From GMA:
“Paralyzed man completes
3,100-mile cross-country journey from California to Washington, DC”
Paralyzed man completes
3,100-mile cross-country journey from California to Washington, DC originally
appeared on goodmorningamerica.com Janne Kouri, who was paralyzed in 2006, has
accomplished what most able-bodied people will never do. He completed a
3,100-mile ride across the country, from California to Washington, D.C. Kouri
completed the ride to raise money and awareness for people living with
paralysis. He used a specialized power chair and was surrounded by family and
friends on his two-month journey. One of those friends was ABC News correspondent
Will Reeve, whose own father, the late Christopher Reeve, was paralyzed in a
horse riding accident in 1995. "People used to tell my dad, 'You were
meant for this to happen to you,'" Reeve recalled. "And he was like,
'What do you mean? I had a life. I had plans and now they've completely
changed.'" When Reeve asked Kouri if he has found himself equipped to
handle all he has been through, Kouri replied, "Definitely." "I
knew it happened for a reason," Kouri said of the 2006 accident that left
him instantly paralyzed when he dove into a sandbar in the Pacific Ocean. Kouri
said his "reason" is NextStep Fitness, the Los Angeles-based
non-profit organization he founded in 2008 to make rehabilitation and fitness
available to individuals living with paralysis. Today there are seven NextStep
Fitness gyms across the country and there are plans to expand. "Insurance
on average only covers 36 days of rehab for people, and then you're sent home
with access to nothing," Kouri said. NextStep is a member of the
Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation NeuroRecovery Network (NRN), a network of
rehabilitation centers founded by Will Reeve's late parents. Kouri's own
commitment to exercise and physical therapy has brought him personal returns,
too. In May 2009, Kouri took his first steps in three years with the assistance
of a walker. At the time of his accident, Kouri, a former star defensive tackle
for Georgetown University's football team, was told he would never walk again. "What
I love and miss and I'm so grateful in that moment is just how tall he
is," said Kouri's wife, Susan, who was his girlfriend at the time of his
accident. "I forget that most days and it's just great to see him in that
way, to see him standing and see him be as large in stature as he is in his
heart." Kouri said his greatest physical milestone recently has been his
ability to ride across the country. The ride raised over $350,000 for people
living with paralysis. He has another major goal planned for 2021, he told
Reeve, but has not yet revealed the details.
^ This sounds like a good person
trying raise money for something good. ^
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